Vossloh G2000 BB

The Vossloh G 2000 BB is a four axle heavy shunting and mainline locomotive built at the former MaK plant in Kiel. At the time of its introduction in 2000 it was the most powerful hydraulic transmission locomotive in Vossloh's range.

The Deutsche Bahn AG (DB AG) reporting number for this loco is 253.

History and Design

The asymmetric cab allows an external viewpoint at the front of the loco

The locomotive was unveiled at Innotrans in 2000. The initial model had an asymmetric cab (see image) with a walkway; the asymmetric cab design allows the walkway to extend all the way to each end of the locomotive; coupled with remote control operation this means that shunting can be done from an external viewpoint whilst still riding on the locomotive.

The design is modular with various components (engine, drive etc.) coming from different suppliers.^[2] External styling was by Tricon-Design.^[3]

A second variant was produced, this time with a symmetrical cab; two different versions of this model were produced - one for the Italian market (G 2000-2 BB) with left hand drive (trains in Italy generally keep to the left) and another (G 2000-3 BB) with right hand drive for Germany.^[1] The new cabs had seating for two operators, in other respects apart from the cab these two models are identical to the initial asymmetric offering.

Starting in 2004 two further sub designs were made: G 2000-4 BB with a MTU engine which increase the power to 2700 kW. This variant also included a hydrodynamic retarder (a type of braking system) as part of the Voith supplied transmission package.

The last variant is G 2000-5 BB which has the same upgrades as the fourth offering, it is designed for the Scandinavian market and as such has anti wheel slip technology, and can be equipped for service down to −40 °C (−40 °F).^[2]

Operators and Use

The locomotives are certified for use on the railways of Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Sweden, Denmark and Poland.^[4]

The locomotives are operated by many companies, many of them on lease. Angel Trains and MRCE both act as leasing companies, with Angel Trains providing the vast majority of the leased locomotives. Other owners include Azienda Consorziale Trasporti (ACT) and SBB Cargo (as class SBB Am 840)

The machines find use in northern Italy and in the German Ruhr region as well as being used for cross border traffic in the Benelux region. Railion, Euro Cargo Rail, Rail4chem and others all use this locomotive. The locomotives are used for freight.

The Swedish rail company Hector Rail operates the a G 2000-4 and a 2000-5 machine.

See also

• List of Deutsche Bahn AG locomotives and railbuses

References

Literature

• Detlef Eggers (2001), "Die Lokomotive G 2000 BB: Eine innovative dieselhydraulische Streckenlokomotive", Glasers Annalen (in German) (5): 173–182, ISSN 0941-0589 
• "Магистральный тепловоз серии G 2000 BB с гидравлической передачей", Железные дороги мира (in Russian) (8), 2002 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vossloh G 2000 BB.

• "SBB Cargo Am 840", trainspo.com, Trainspo , also see other owners linked within

MaK/VSFT/Vossloh Kiel locomotives
1st generation 1954–1967	240 B 240 C 400C 450 C 600 D 650 D 800 D 850 D 1000 D 1200 D
2nd generation 1965–1978	G 320 B G 500 C G 700 C G 850 BB G 1100 BB
3rd generation 1977–present	Light shunters G 321 B G 322 G 761 C G 762 C G 763 C G 764 C G 765 DE 501 DE 502 Heavy shunters/Light locomotives G 1201 BB G 1202 BB G 1203 BB G 1204 BB G 1205 G 1206/G 1206-2 DE 1002 DE 1003 DE 1004
4th generation 2001–present	Light shunters G 400 B Heavy shunters/Light locomotives G 800 BB G 1000 BB G 1700 BB Line locomotives G 2000 BB
5th generation 2008–present	Light shunters G 6 Heavy shunters/Light locomotives G 12 DE 12 G 18 DE 18
Export builds	TCDD DH33100 SJ Tp / T23 NS 6400 NSB Di 6 / Dispolok ME 26 NSB Di 8 SNCB HLD 77
and locomotives	V 60 / 360–365 V 65 V 80 V 90 / 290–296 V 100 / 211–214 V 160 V 200 / 220–221
Experimental locomotives and rebuilts	DE 1024 / DB 240 DH 1004 DH 1504
Locomotive types in italics are in production. G-type locomotives have diesel-hydraulic transmissions, DE-type locomotives have diesel-electric transmissions.

Classes of German diesel locomotives
Deutsche Bundesbahn (pre-1994) see also DB locomotives	201 202 210 211–214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 230 232 236 240 245 V50 251 252 259 260, 261 265 270 279 280 V88 288 290, 291 299 331, 332, 333, 335
Deutsche Reichsbahn (GDR) (pre-1994) see also DR locomotives	100.0 100.1–9 101 102.0 102.1 103 105 106 107 108–115 118 119 120 130, 131 132 142 199.0 Kö 199.0–1 199.3 199.8 V 36 K
Deutsche Bahn AG (post-1994) see also DBAG locomotives	201–204 210.4 211–214 215 216 217 218 219 220 223 225 226 228 229 232–234 240 241 242 245 and 246 247 (EMD 66) 247 (Vectron) 250 253 259 260 and 261 264 266 275 285 290, 291, 294–296 298 333, 335 360 361 362 363 364 365 760

Standard gauge locomotives of Switzerland
SBB-CFF-FFS	Steam A 3/5 B 3/4 C 5/6 Electric Ae 4/7 Ae 4/8 Ae 6/6 Be 6/8 II Be 6/8 III Ce 6/8 I Ce 6/8 II Ce 6/8 III De 6/6 Ee 922 Re 420 Re 450 Re 460 Re 481 Re 482 Re 484 Re 620 Experimental and prototypes Ae 8/14 Be 3/5 Be 4/6 12301 Be 4/6 12302 Ce 6/8 I Diesel Am 6/6 Am 840 Am 841 Am 842 Am 843 Bm 4/4 Em 3/3 Experimental and prototypes Am 4/6 1101 Electro-diesel Eem 923
see also Category:Locomotives of Switzerland, Swiss locomotive and railcar classification